C was officially diagnosed with autism at 2 years and 11 months old. However, even before the diagnosis, we knew that C was very likely in the spectrum and we immediately did the necessary to help him. We changed his diet and resorted to biomedical treatment. In just 2 weeks, we saw improvements in his eye contact and focus. In the UK (at least where we were), there aren’t any one stop centres for autism or ABA schools, only independent ABA consultants.

When C was 19 months old, we hired an ABA consultant to help us begin home-based therapy for C. ABA therapists were scarce, and hence, we, the parents had to take up the role of therapists. C responded well to the therapy. However, things soon got difficult as we were expecting our second child and couldn’t dedicate as many hours as we wanted to for C.

C attended playschool and nursery with support in the UK, but he was basically playing by himself, oblivious to other children. C has many strengths — he is a gentle, loving boy with an excellent memory, good attention span and has not much problems with academic activities. However, his speech was limited to just labelling things and he could only say one sentence when requesting for things, “Can I have …. please?” He was also echoing quite a bit too. After his 3rd birthday, we decided that we could no longer waste C’s time and so we returned to Malaysia to get the necessary early intervention needed to prep C for mainstream school when we return to the UK by end 2016.

We were considering a few ABA schools in our list and were near to a decision. However, before we came to a decision, we spoke to another esteemed ABA consultant who recommended Adapt Enrichment Centre. Adapt was never in our list because the centre had no website at that time. Students in the centre mostly entered through personal recommendation. I remember my husband calling Carmen, the owner and ABA consultant of Adapt and she told us that her centre was full and was no longer accepting students. However, she was kind enough to meet us and C.

We met Carmen and visited Adapt after the centre was closed for the day. We, especially C had an instant connection and chemistry with Carmen. She was also very experienced and she came up with a short plan on what we should work on with C. It must be parental instinct, gut feel — or whatever you want to call it — but we just knew Adapt was the right centre for C even though we did not do the standard checks we did with all the other schools, i.e checking out the therapists and the teaching environment in the school. We did our best to persuade Carmen to accept C and after discussing with her partner, Victoria, they kindly relented and slotted in C for the half day sessions, 3 times a week. The sessions slowly increased to 5 days a week to full days sessions, 3 times a week and half day sessions, 2 times a week.

Carmen works very closely with us, having meetings regularly to understand our aspirations for C and also to rectify stumbling blocks / C’s weaknesses and new behavioural issues which may pop up along the way. From there, she would tailor a program suited for C. Together with a new regime of biomedical under a new doctor and a new diet, we saw radical improvements in C in less than 6 months. From a boy who could not sit still during circle time in nursery and paid no attention at all to his peers, C is now able to sit and participate in group activities and is starting to take notice and mingle with his peers. We were once worried that C would never talk properly, but now he is able to communicate and talk in proper short sentences. In the 4th or 5th month at Adapt, Carmen felt that C was ready for mainstream kindergarten, even though we were hesitant as we felt that C was not quite ready yet.

However, Carmen strongly advised us to take this next step, saying that he was ready for new challenges. She then set goals and an intensive programme was drawn up to prep C for mainstream kindergarten. In just 3 months, under the guidance of Carmen and the dedicated therapists, C was accepted in Chiltern House. One of our happiest and proudest moment was when the kindergarten assessed C and felt that he was competent enough to join the kindergarten without the support of a shadow.

C is now in his 2nd week in Chiltern and is adapting well. He still goes to Adapt in the afternoon as he still has a lot to learn there. What we really like about Adapt is the very hands on approach Carmen and her partner, Victoria takes in handling their students. Besides working closely with parents, they also have a very close working relationship with C’s principal and teachers in kindergarten to discuss on how to better help C progress further.

Another positive factor which sets ADAPT apart from many other ABA and Autism Development Centres, is the personal bond Carmen has with each of her students. Unlike the typical more distant principal / head of school-student relationship, Carmen knows each of her students’ strengths, their quirks and weaknesses. To us, this personal bond makes Carmen more like a family friend who is genuinely there to help us with C’s development. We also like the more modern approach on ABA practiced by Adapt. In that respect, it focuses quite a bit on relationship development and is less rigid and robotic compared to traditional ABA.

We are very thankful to Carmen, Victoria and not to forget all the amazing therapists in Adapt, particularly C’s 6 main therapists, Gabriel, Cheryl, Michelle, Emily, Hazel (Occupational therapist) and Siew Tee. C loves his therapists and is very close to all the other therapists in the centre as well. The therapists are all young but they are qualified and very passionate in what they do. What is more important, is their genuine care and love for the children, which translate to great chemistry and a happy environment for the children to learn and to achieve new milestones.”

Parents of 5 year old C,
Damansara, Petaling Jaya
(Child’s name protected for privacy)

My son has been attending Adapt Enrichment Centre (“ADAPT”) since January 2014, which in normal school years would have been equivalent to Standard 1. However, he has learning difficulties which in turn prevented him from being age appropriate in terms of speech, academic and social development.

What I like about Adapt is that fact that the student to teacher ratio is very low (either 1:1 or at best 2:1), which provided the much needed attention for my son and enabled programs to be tailor-made to suit him according to his individual needs, and his progress.

Two years on, my son has demonstrated tremendous improvements and is now able to read, spell and do simple maths equivalent to that of a 6 year old (about 2 years behind his actual age). He was amazing in the annual concerts that was organized by Adapt – not only was he confident but he thoroughly enjoyed himself on stage.

In summary, my son has progressed very well since attending Adapt. The big plus point is also the fact that he is very happy there.

I am hoping and praying very hard, for a fact Adapt has helped him and his friends so much, the program at Adapt will also continue to help them beyond their primary years. The ultimate success would be if one day, children who have improved in leaps and bounds (thanks to Adapt’s early intervention approach) will eventually be able to sit for public examinations like IGCSE or its equivalent.

I will always be eternally grateful towards all the wonderful teachers and program coordinators at Adapt for helping me with my son’s development. A special mention to Ms Carmen Loke & Ms Victoria for making it happen. May God bless you both and the family at Adapt always.

Liza Mustapha,
Parent of A, aged 8 Years
(Child’s name protected for privacy)
Petaling Jaya

“Our child joined Adapt when it first open its door a few years back. He was not able to read, write, speak and be independent. He gained these skills there and continue to make progress till today.

Adapt is holistic in their approach and continuously integrates new curriculum for the benefits of our child. Carmen and her team is very open minded and flexible. They practiced two way communication feedback relationship. Our child’s needs from academic, independence skills, dietary, medication, etc. are all monitored closely. This helps the right level of intervention and adjustment to the program and ensures progression.

“Adapt strength is also in their teachers. They are not only young and fun but extremely passionate, authentic and cares deeply for our children. We are most appreciative and feels our child is safe in their hands.”

Adapt is both a school and a home to our child. We are very happy that ADAPT is part of our life.

Parents of N, Aged 10,
USJ

“Firstly, I would like to thank Adapt for providing a platform for learning in a holistic way for the children and also having dedicated and committed Teachers in the day to day learning process of the children. Fundamentally, a conducive, safe, caring environment and at the same time “fun learning” at a centre is needed for the kids to progress well.

At Adapt I can see all that taking place and my daughter has progress well since the time she started in the centre.

Just a brief history, my daughter born a normal child and speaking at 10 months old, regress from 150 words at 10 months old to barely 5 words after the MMR double up with the Chicken Pox vaccinations that lost her entirely. We went through Biomed and various speech & OT therapies and medication which resulted to minimum improvement. Started a bit slow in Adapt 2 years ago with just half day programme and after 1 year we moved her to full day Academic & Early Intervention programme in which she has progressed leaps and bounds.

From a child I once lost has become more aware of her surroundings, loving and started having conversational skills and behaving like a typical normal child once again. In the past 1 year, she has begun to write all her alphabets and numbers and can now read a few books and most importantly she has developed both in Receptive and Expressive speech and understanding.

My daughter being the one and only and pampered at home has also developed INDEPENDENCE since ADAPT promotes a lot of self-learning and being independent in carrying out daily task.

She will be turning 8 in December 2016 and I am very happy with the teachers, lesson plans and also the commitment of the centre in putting the kids first above anything else. We are preparing her for mainstream in an international school and Adapt has been working closely with us the parents at all times to realize our dreams.

A centre with an all rounder approach and not labelling a child is what ADAPT practices and that alone gives parents a peace of mind and a sense of commitment in reaching the ultimate goal for every child to grow and learn at their own pace in nurturing them to excel not only in academics but also in personal development”.

Parents of A, 8 years old
(Child’s name protected for privacy)
Sungai Buloh

“A few months ago, we were at our wits end concerning our son Aryan. We thought we were doing all the right thing for him. He was in a good mainstream kindergarten whilst undergoing Occupational & speech therapies. Aryan, then started having behavioural issues which left us with no choice but to remove him from school. Out of desperation we sought help from a “prominent figure” within the Autism community who in turn referred us to Carmen. We were very sceptical in the beginning. We didn’t want our precious son to attend “special” classes. We heard a lot about the traditional ABA therapies and we never thought that ABA would benefit our son.

To our surprise, in such a short period of time, Aryan has shown great improvement! Even our family and friends noticed a change in him. He is more verbal now and is beginning to read! Most importantly, he is enjoying his time at ADAPT. We know it’s a long road towards recovery but you guys in ADAPT give parents like us hope and we are ever so grateful for your commitment and dedication towards our little champ.

Thank you ADAPT for the amazing work you are doing in these children’s lives!

Parents of Aryan,
Dr. & Mrs. Mathi Arasu